notes on the koloches1 Alphonse Louis Pinart Translated and Annotated by Richard L. Bland and Ann G. Simonds

In speaking to this assembly,2 I want first of all to express the Nass River to the vicinity of Mt. St. Elias at 60° my gratitude to my new colleagues for the honor they have north latitude. The family is bordered on the south by bestowed by welcoming me among them with so much the Shimshyans [], whom some ethnologists indulgence, a young traveler who for the love of science relate to the Koloche proper; to the east by the great has, at his risk and peril, explored for nearly two years the Chippewyanne [Chipewyan] family, which goes a little scarcely visited and almost unknown coasts of the north- to the west of the crests of the Rocky Mountains; and to western region of North America. Their main intention the north by the Tinneh [] tribes. They are divided has certainly been to encourage the spirit of individual into three main tribes: initiative, which is so often lacking among us. I thank 1. The Haïdas or Kaïganis, who occupy the Queen them both for myself and for our country [France], so in- Charlotte archipelago, Prince of Wales and adequately represented in that phalanx of bold explorers Revillagigedo Islands, as well as the coast of the who, at the price of a thousand dangers, seek to broaden continent stretching between the Portland Canal, the horizons of science for our country, for which we have the mouth of the Nass River, and the sea. to work today by every possible means in order to increase 2. The Sitka Kwan4 (from the word shikh, which means its prestige in the eyes of the foreigner. the place where they have their main village, htka, One of our colleagues has told you my main itineraries which comes in turn from the words athika, on the in a preceding session. Thanks to that paper you know the side of the sea, and kwan, tribe), which gives the ori- field of my explorations, and you know what special subject gin of the name Sitka kwan5 as the “tribe of people I have pursued in my research. The materials that I brought who live in a place called shikh.”6 These people are back are primarily ethnographic and linguistic. I intend to spread along the coast and on the Chilkat River and extract notes from my travel journals, the nature of which occupy the large islands of Admiralty, Baranof, Kou, will be of special interest to you. I begin today with some Chichagof, and others. details on a little-known people, the Koloches [Tlingit], 3. The Yakutats,7 stretching from the entrance of Cross whom I was able to observe closely, particularly in Sitka.3 Sound to Yakutat Bay. The Koloche family inhabits the west coast of The name that the Koloches have given themselves America and the adjoining islands, from the mouth of is Ll’inkit,8 to which they almost always add that of the

1 This text was originally published in 1872 as “Notes sur les Koloches.” Bulletins de la Societe d’Anthropologie de Paris, Ser. 2, Volume 7, pp. 788–811. Paris. It was printed as a separate item by A. Hennuyer, Paris in 1873. “Koloches” refers to the Tlingit. They were so identified by the first Russian explorers possibly because of the labrets kolushan( ) the Tlingit women wore (Krause 1956:64; Veniaminov 1984:380–381). Notes written by Pinart are so indicated; all others are additions made by Bland and Simonds. 2 Some of Pinart’s writings were initially given as talks to interested groups, this being one. 3 Sitka is the principal town on the west coast of Baranof Island, .—ALP [Alphonse Louis Pinart] 4 The Sitka kwan are one of the Tlingit tribes and are situated on Baranof Island, Alaska. Sitka, New Archangel to the Russians, was their principal settlement on the west coast of the island. 5 This is the Chitgaganes of Sandifort.—ALP. 6 See Durlach (1928:50). 7 The Yakutat are one of the major Tlingit tribes and are located along the gulf coast of southern Alaska (de Laguna 1990:203). 8 From which the ethnonym Tlingit derives, which means “human being” (de Laguna 1990:226). Also see Durlach (1928:51).

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 69 Antou Kwan, that is to say, men of all villages. Besides how young they are, they are indeed trained to last en- that general name, they have specific names to designate tire days without eating or drinking, and that without the inhabitants of different localities, names which they complaint. They are made to bathe in the sea, in winter form by simply adding the word kwan to the name of the as in summer, not missing a single day.11 Finally, the village itself. custom of flagellation12 must contribute to giving the The current population of the Koloches can be given Koloches that sturdiness, that resistance which everyone approximately by the following figures: Yakutats, about remarks on. It could even be that this primitive custom 280; Sitka Kwan, 4,200; and Haïdas, about 2,000; this has contributed a great deal to giving them their reputa- gives us the round figure of about 6,500 individuals for tion for barbarism that modern geographers assign ex- the total number of Koloches.9 clusively to them, somehow without motivation. Be that I saw a quite large number of Koloches. I brought as it may, the flagellation I spoke of above and which I back photographs of them which I will place before you, witnessed seems to be meant to develop men capable of but my anthropological notes are unfortunately a bit defying suffering and bad weather. It always takes place vague. Like all travelers who preceded me, I was struck in winter and in the morning, at the very coldest time. by their special appearance, different from that of other When the activity is supposed to take place, the oldest Indian tribes along the Pacific, but whose special traits are inhabitant of the village comes out toward the shore and difficult to grasp and render in description.10 The height of calls for some rods. Holding some of these rods in his the Koloche is generally average to rather small, but they hand, he walks straight to the shore. Then the bravest of always stand straight—well built, robust, and brawny. those who are bathing comes out of the water and turns Their heads, long and oval, are generally small in propor- his chest toward the old man, who begins to beat him as tion to their bodies; their foreheads are high and straight; hard as possible until he himself is tired or until another their hair takes root on their foreheads in a horizontal person comes forward. After this flagellation, the brav- line; their eyes are of medium size, well opened and sepa- est among the bathers take sharp stones and rip their rated; their color is dark brown, with some of them tend- chests and hands until they bleed, injuring themselves ing toward yellow; the nose is straight, well made, and sometimes quite seriously. They throw themselves again of medium size; the mouth appeared to me rather broad; into the sea and repeat the process until they have lost the cheekbones are very prominent; beards are rare, the consciousness. They are then removed and carried into hair is very thick; the coloring differs substantially from their houses, where they are wrapped in skins or blan- the reddish-brown of American Indians, being rather of kets and placed near the fire. a dull yellow brown and bronzed. All this physiognomy, According to the Koloches, this flagellation is not as which my description very incompletely represents, brings painful as it might appear. But they consider flagellation the Koloches close to the pure populations of Arizona, the that is done in the evening inside the house near the fire Pimos [Pima], Maricopas, among others, whom I visited to be a terrible ordeal. As such, it takes place much more on another trip—and between whom I believe there is a rarely. Here is how it proceeds. When everyone is assem- close relationship. bled in the house, at an agreed signal one of the old men The Koloches are extremely hardened to suffering of the village suddenly gets up. He is given some rods, se- and all kinds of fatigue, be it from a long march or from lecting two or three of them. The one who is chosen to be long privation. This strong fortitude is probably due to whipped, in order to receive the title of brave, is stripped of the manner in which the infants are raised. No matter his clothing and offers his bare chest to the lashes. The old

9 Given the extent of depopulation in this area after European discovery and settlement, it is difficult to arrive at accurate numbers for pre- contact populations. Mooney (1928) estimated the aboriginal populations of the Tlingit to have been 10,000 and of the Haida, 9,800. See Boyd (1990:135–148). 10 See Litke (1987) and Veniaminov (1984:380) for other descriptions of the physical character of the Tlingit. 11 Bathing in the icy winter sea was also accompanied by flogging with alder branches. Such activities were designed not only to toughen the young but to ultimately bring success in life (de Laguna 1972:516–517, 714). 12 See Veniaminov 1984:418–419.

70 notes on the koloches man beats him sometimes on the chest, sometimes on the ers). And if they communicate, they mutually employ the back or sides, until the body of the sufferer is one horrible words aχoani (uncle) or aχkani (cousin). Two individuals wound. All this while he must remain silent—without ut- belonging to the same division are called aχχani (compa- tering a moan, without showing any sign of suffering. He triots, friends, companions).17 is then declared brave, and nothing in the world can take The two groups of Koloches themselves have a cer- away that title once earned. But if he allows the least groan tain number of subdivisions that take names of mam- to escape his lips during the procedure he is regarded as a mals, birds, or fish in order to be identified. Thus the coward, and he is often forced to leave the village to avoid Koloches of the Kχanouk division are split into subdivi- being the laughingstock of his fellow citizens. sions of the Wolf, Bear, Eagle, Shark, Whale [cachalot], Totems. Tribal divisions. Villages. Toyons. Like the ma- and Sea Gull; the Koloches of the Jéll’ race divide up jority of the different American tribes, the Koloches divide into subdivisions of the Raven, Frog, Sea Lion, Owl, and their entire race—that is, all the tribes from the Yakutats Goose, among others.18 to the Tsimshian Indians on the Nass River—into two These subdivisions are further divided into families large families:13 one has the Raven or Jéll’14 for a totem,15 that bear the names of the places where they live.19 the other symbolized by the Wolf or Kχanouk.16 The Each of the groups just enumerated has its peculiar sign, Koloches of the first division are called Kikh’sáthi, those or totem, by which it is distinguished from the others. This of the second Ts’itkhoniathi. totem is borne at all meetings where several groups come The present names of Raven and Wolf—given to the together as well as in games and ceremonies of worship. two divisions of the Koloche nation, do not come directly, Each village generally contains individuals belonging as one might believe—from the names of the animals re- to the same clan, which has as its chief or toyon one of puted to be the ancestors of the tribes. Rather, they are the oldest men or someone who is recognized as the brav- from men, Jéll’ and Kχanouk, to whom I will return later est. A certain number of these villages, clans, or families and from whom the two groups of natives originated. To together form a totem with one of the subdivisions of the demarcate today the two divisions of the above-named two larger divisions of the Koloche nation, and the totem Koloche nation would be very difficult if not impossi- has for chief a toyon whose power is hereditary in his fam- ble. Nevertheless, it seems that the Koloches of Sitka or ily and is generally transmitted from father to son. Sitka kwan more likely belong to the first group and the I said the names Jéll’ and Kχanouk (the Raven and Yakutats and Haïdas to the second. the Wolf) were those of celebrated men reputed to be the When individuals of one of the divisions meet in- originators of the two groups of Koloches. Therefore it is dividuals of the other, they call each other by the name useful to introduce here the legend of the two heroes as the Kounét-Kanagi (that is, those who are not ours, or strang- Koloches told it to me:

13 E.g., exogamous moieties, Raven and Wolf (Eagle). See de Laguna 1972:450; Veniaminov 1984:383. 14 Variously spelled as Yeil (Veniaminov 1984:386), Jētl (Boas 1888b:159), El (Golder 1907:290), etc. 15 More recently referred to as a crest. 16 Variously spelled Ganook (Veniaminov 1984:392), Qanūq (Boas 1888b:161), Ģanūk (Swanton 1909:4), etc. This moiety may be called Eagle (Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1990:6; de Laguna 1972:450). In earlier discussions of Tlingit social organization (e.g., Swanton 1909), moieties were sometimes referred to as phratries. 17 The prefix ax means “my.” The term sáni (the spelling oani in Pinart is either a typographical error or a misunderstanding on Pinart’s part) means father’s brother, i.e., the paternal uncle, and is used to address men of the father’s moiety who are of his age and generation. The term kani is the term for a sibling-in-law of the same sex, and thus is used to address persons in the opposite moiety who are of the same sex, age and generation. The Tlingit do not have a term for “cousin” as it is used in Western kinship. Cousins are either siblings or siblings-in-law (de Laguna 1972:475–476; Veniaminov 1984:383–384). 18 The subdivisions Pinart discusses here are sibs, or matriclans, which make up the moieties. They are the primary form of social group among the Tlingit. Members of each possess a common name, a shared ancestry and history as well as a body of mythological traditions, house sites and houses, and a number of inherited incorporeal rights often embodied in material possessions but also portrayed symbolically (de Laguna 1972:451; Veniaminov 1984:384). 19 Pinart is not clear here, but he is probably referring to the lineages or house groups into which the sibs are organized. Each is usually associ- ated with a named house in a village (Dauenhauer and Dauenhauer 1990:8; de Laguna 1972:451; Veniaminov 1984:384).

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 71 The legend of Jéll’.20 There was a time, say the nar- of them stopped and began to speak to the poor woman, rators, when there was no light and all the world was who could not be consoled because of the loss of her sons. in darkness. But there was a man who had a wife and Having learned all the circumstances of her misfortune, a sister. He was so in love with his wife that, contrary the whale told her to go into the sea, take a small stone to what savages ordinarily do, he did not permit her to from the bottom and, after having swallowed it, drink sea burden herself with anything at all. She would remain water. Then the whale immediately disappeared. Having seated for days at a time in her house with eight of those obeyed this order, Kitχouginsi became pregnant and at the small red birds the Koloches call koun, four on each end of eight months gave birth to a boy, whom she named side. If she had a relationship with a man other than her Jéll’. Before giving birth to Jéll’, she hid from her brother husband, says the legend, the kouns would immediately in a secret place. fly away. In addition, this good husband was so jeal- When Jéll’ began to grow up, his mother made him a ous that he would lock his wife up in a chest whenever bow and arrows and taught him how to use them.25 Jéll’ he went into the forest, where he used to build boats, a developed great love for this exercise and became such a thing he excelled at. skilled archer that not a single small bird passing by within His sister was named Kitχouginsi (daughter of the his range could escape him. He killed so many of these Whale).21 She had four sons (the legend does not tell how small birds26 that his mother was able to make a suit of she had them), whom their uncle killed one after another. clothes. He then built a small house in a place where he The Koloches disagree on why the uncle killed his neph- could devote himself to his favorite pastime. One day at ews.22 They say that as soon as the uncle saw that any of dawn, seated in his house, he saw a large bird roosting. The his nephews had reached his own height, and particularly bird looked like a magpie with a long tail and with a long, when he noticed that a nephew had begun casting his thick, and apparently very hard beak. This is the mythi- eyes on his wife, he would take him hunting and, getting cal bird that the Koloches call koutsgatouli (The Bird that a great distance from the shore, he would cause the canoe Is Below the Clouds).27 Jéll’, having killed it, immediately in which his nephew sat to capsize. removed the skin and put it on. Scarcely had he donned He thus killed them all in sequence, and their mother this skin than he felt the desire and power to fly. He then could only mourn the death of her children.23 One day, in flew away so high that his beak got stuck in a cloud, and her profound sadness, she was seated on the seashore when he managed to free it only with difficulty. After this expe- she saw a group of whales24 approaching the shore. One rience he returned to his house, took off the skin, and hid

20 See Venaiminov (1984:387–389) as well as Golder (1907:290–291); Krause (1956:176–177); Litke (1987:83–84); Swanton (1909:3–4, 80– 81). Frank A. Golder visited St. Petersburg in 1914 where he developed a bibliography of Russian historical sources on America (Golder 1917). The myths in his 1907 article are translations of those in Veniaminov’s 1840 Notes (Boas Professional Correspondence, Golder to Boas 17 March 1908). Aurel Krause was a German geographer and a colleague of Franz Boas’s in Berlin. In 1879 Krause moved to Klukwan in and worked among the Chilkat Tlingit there until 1882 (Krause 1956; McCaffrey 1993). The majority of his Tlingit myths were taken from Veniaminov (Krause 1956:174–193). Fedor Petrovich Litke’s short version of the Raven myth (1987) was given to him by Veniaminov. John Reed Swanton worked at Sitka and Wrangell (Swanton 1908, 1909). Boas himself never visited the areas of and Alaska where the Tlingit live. All of his Tlingit data were collected either at Victoria or Alert Bay on Vancouver Island, B.C. in 1886 and 1888 (Boas 1888a, 1888b). He apparently did not collect the myth of Raven’s origin. It is not known whether Boas had read Veniaminov. He cited the latter in his first major publication on Northwest Coast mythology (Boas 1888b:125), but it is most likely that he obtained the Veniaminov material from Krause, whom he also cited. 21 Veniaminov (1984:388) identified the parent as Killer Whale. 22 In a matrilineal system, like that of the Tlingit, one of the chief’s sister’s sons will inherit his position, as one of his own sons will inherit that of his own mother’s brother. The usual procedure was for the chief to designate a young unmarried nephew as his heir, but given various circumstances, any of the nephews might inherit (de Laguna 1972:490–491). The older man, therefore, may have resented the younger men’s entitlement to his position and seen them as a threat to his authority. Jealousy may also have played a role as the heir would also marry his uncle’s widow if she was still alive at the time of the uncle’s death (de Laguna 1972:480–481). 23 See Krause (1956:177). 24 Again, Veniaminov (1984:388) identified these animals as killer whales. 25 See Veniaminov (1984:389). Note that it is a woman who made the boy a bow and arrows and then taught him how to use them. 26 Veniaminov (1984:389) identified these birds as hummingbirds. 27 Veniaminov did not translate this name, and in fact, in the 1984 translation of his Notes on the Koloshi, no Tlingit term or translation is given for it. Kinyix-ool’i or Bird of Heaven is suggested as a possible translation (Veniaminov 1984:389).

72 notes on the koloches it. On another occasion and in the same manner he killed According to the Koloches of Sitka, after Jéll’ had re- a huge duck, skinned it, and put the skin on his mother; turned to the earth, he went to the west. Finding small as soon as his mother had this skin on, she felt capable of dead children in a certain place, he resuscitated them by swimming in the sea. tickling the inside of their noses with a hair from a wom- When Jéll’ became a man, his mother told him all an. Who was this woman? Who were those children and of his uncle’s deeds. Scarcely had he heard these words what became of them? Our natives do not tell us that. than he left the house and opened the chest where his aunt The origin of light.32 As mentioned earlier, light did not was confined.28 The legend says that then the small birds exist in those mythological times. It was possessed by a flew far away from her. The uncle, returning home and certain rich toyon—a contemporary of Jéll’, an antedilu- seeing what had happened, became dreadfully angry. Jéll’ vian without doubt—about whom the preceding legend sat quietly and did not move from his place. His uncle did not speak. Light was shut up in three chests that were dragged him out of the house, made him sit down in the guarded with the greatest care, and no one was permitted boat, and took him away. Having reached a place where to look at them. Jéll’, having learned this and ardently de- there were many sea monsters, the uncle threw Jéll’ into siring to have the light, stole it. the sea. But Jéll’ resurfaced from the bottom of the sea The toyon had an only daughter, a young virgin and reappeared on the shore before his uncle. The latter, whom he deeply loved and on whom he constantly kept who saw that he was unable to kill his nephew in the same watch with his own eyes. The legend says that he only manner as had worked with Kitχouginsi’s other children, allowed her to drink or eat after having carefully ex- angrily exclaimed: “Let the world be covered with water!” amined her food himself. With paternal feelings carried Then, the Koloches say, the water began to rise higher and so far, Jéll’ understood that the toyon’s light would cer- higher. Jéll’ put on his magpie skin and flew away toward tainly belong to the child whom the young virgin would the clouds where, as before, he hung on with his beak. bear. And Jéll’ resolved to be brought into the world He remained in that position the entire time the water by her. Following up on this idea was not very difficult covered the earth. The water rose so high that it almost for him since he had the ability to take any form he touched the clouds and Jéll’’s tail and wings were in the desired. (One sees that his supernatural powers accrue water. When the water receded, Jéll’ tired and let himself substantially from one legend to another.) So, having fall on the kelp (kit),29 where the rising tide brought him transformed into the smallest part of a wisp of grass,33 he to the shore. placed himself in the cup from which the toyon’s daugh- The Koloches of the Stikine River claim that he land- ter generally drank. When the toyon’s daughter had ed on one of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Taking a piece drunk after the usual examination, Jéll’ crept into her of red cedar (Pinus lambertiana) in his beak,30 he flew from throat. Having felt that she had swallowed something, island to island, and this tree grows wherever Jéll’ threw she tried hard to throw up in every possible way; in spite the pieces of cedar. Wherever he did not throw any, this of her efforts she did not succeed. tree does not grow. One should not be surprised to see I will skip the trivial details of little interest34 related the cedar appearing in the great legend of the Koloches, to the pregnancy of the young virgin, to the second birth because this tree has exceptional value for the natives, who of Jéll’ and to his infancy. He obtained through cries and use it in the construction of canoes.31 tears the first chest that contained the light, took it near

28 Golder (1907:291) included the phrase that Raven “instantly debauched her.” The Pinart translation omits this act and follows Veniaminov (1984:389) exactly. 29 In Golder (1907:291) Raven is rescued by Sea Otter. Also see Krause (1956:176). 30 Pinus lambertiana is not the red cedar. It is the sugar pine, which does not grow in this area. The Western red cedar is Thuja plicata. 31 See Veniaminov (1984:390). Pinart has rearranged the order of events here. 32 See Veniaminov (1984:390); Boas (1888a:122; 1888b:159–161); Golder (1907:292–293); Krause (1956:179–180). 33 In the version collected by Boas the young woman swallows a pine needle (Boas 1888b:122). 34 Pinart presumably omitted the details of her pregnancy either to conserve space or for prudish reasons. Everyone else includes them. The young woman was originally to have given birth on a bed covered with fine furs, etc., but she could not do so under these circumstances, and had to be taken into the woods where she gave birth on a bed of moss under a tree (Veniaminov 1984:391).

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 73 the door, and opened it. Immediately the stars appeared on the small island Tekinoum, which is located near Cape in the sky. At this sight the old toyon lamented over the Ommaney at the extreme western end of Sitka Island37 loss of his treasure, but he did not punish the one who (Chiχllioutou in Koloche), did it exist. There a small was his grandson. In the same manner Jéll’ got the second spring flowed over which Kχanouk, stretched out, kept chest, which contained the moon. Finally he extorted the watch. Jéll’ obtained the water by a trick—about which I last chest—the most precious of all—which contained the will speak in telling the story of Kχanouk—carrying away sun, by refusing to eat or drink. This made him sick. The as much in his mouth as he could take and passing over grandfather allowed his last treasure to be entrusted to the the islands and the continent. Wherever he let large drops child, but with the order that they must closely keep an of fresh water fall, lakes and rivers were formed. Wherever eye on him. Scarcely had Jéll’ obtained the chest and ap- he let only small drops fall, creeks and springs appeared. proached the door than he changed into a raven and flew Finally, after having accomplished all these marvels away with the chest. He heard human voices, but he was and showering the Koloches with good deeds, Jéll’ with- not able to see anything since there was no sun yet. He drew to the place where he is supposed to live yet—at the asked the people if they wanted to have light. They an- springs of the Nass River, in the place called Naschakiéll’ swered that he was tricking them, that he, Jéll’, was not (from nas, name of the river, chaki, from achak, the top or the only one capable of producing light. Then, in order to beginning of a river, and iéll, the name of Jéll’ himself). show the disbelievers what he could do, he opened the top The legend of Kχanouk.38 Among the Koloches the leg- of the chest he held in his hand and instantly the sun ap- end of Kχanouk is not nearly as clear as that of Jéll’. It peared in all its brilliance. The frightened individuals fled represents Kχanouk as being older than Jéll’ on the earth, in various directions, some toward the mountains, others but it seems to emerge from these two legends wherein the into the forest, others into the water. From this originated latter, if not the stronger, was at least the most skillful and the wild animals, the birds, and the fish, according to the the most benevolent. place the individuals fled to. Kχanouk was a being who lived, as I said, on a tree- The origin of fire.35 Fire did not exist in the land of less island near Cape Ommaney. This island is known to the Koloches in those far-off times, and I attach a certain the Koloches by the name Tekinoum (that is, sea fortress). importance to this memory of a time when fire was not According to the Koloches, on this island there is a small yet known because, compared to other documents of the triangular rock worn down by the water and covered by a same kind produced by various authors, it tends to prove roof of stone. On the upper part of the stone, constituting that it was a primitive age when people lived without this the roof, a horizontal line of a different color from that of indispensable auxiliary. But the fire the Koloches lacked the stone itself can be seen. Following the testimony of the existed on an island in the middle of the sea. Jéll’, a new Koloches this line did not exist in the past, but today it is Prometheus, flew to this island in his magpie skin, grabbed the mark of the place where Jéll’ got the water that he then a blazing brand in his beak, and resumed his flight with all gave to the world. The place where this spring comes out the speed of a bird. But the journey was so long that, by is called yet today Kχanouk-ini (or the water of Kχanouk) the time he reached land, the brand he carried got fire on in remembrance of the house that Kχanouk built over the his beak and burned it halfway through. Scarcely had he spring and on the roof of which he slept. reached the shore than he let the coals fall onto the ground, At sea in his canoe one day, Kχanouk met Jéll’, whom, from which sparks passed to the rocks and wood. This is as he sailed up, he asked: “Have you been living a long the way one now gets fire on the Northwest Coast. time?” To which the latter responded that he was born The origin of water.36 Fresh water, until the time of when the earth was not yet displaced. (This word “dis- Jéll’, was lacking on the islands and the continent. Only placed” has a special meaning for the Koloches. They

35 See Veniaminov (1984:392). Also see Boas (1888b:161–162); Golder (1907:293); Krause (1956:180); Swanton (1909:83). 36 Veniaminov 1984:392–393. See also Boas 1888a:124; 1888b:161; Golder 1907:293; Krause 1956:183; Swanton 1909:4. 37 The long axis of Sitka Island, now Baranof Island, runs essentially north-south, with the north end slightly farther west than the south end. Cape Ommaney is located on the south end of Baranof Island. 38 See Veniaminov 1984:392–395. Also consult Boas (1888a:125; 1888b:161) where Kxanouk is identified as Eagle; see Golder (1907:293–294) and Krause (1956:178–179), where Kxanouk is identified as Petrel, and Swanton (1909:4, 83) where the protagonist is also named Petrel.

74 notes on the koloches think that the earth on which they now live is not the ing returned, lit the fire and smoked his guest as much as same as that which was formerly in the same place, but he pleased. From this the Raven, who was white before, that by some upheavals it has changed its location). “Is it a became black.42 Finally Kχanouk, appeased and tired, let long time that you’ve been living on the earth?” Jéll’ asked Jéll’ escape. The latter flew away, carrying the water to the him in return. Then Kχanouk responded that from below world. With the exception of this legend about Kχanouk, has come the agitliou-kou (agitliou-kou signifies something the Koloches I saw knew absolutely nothing more about that came from the earth, such as a volcanic eruption, but him, though like Jéll’ he formed the totem of one of the I do not know the exact meaning of this word in the text groups of the first order of the nation. This silence is -ex that I transcribed).39 “Yes,” responded Jéll’, “you are much plained in part however: Kχanouk is the ancestor of the older than I am.” Having thus spoken, they went far from Yakutats and the Haïdas, whom I visited much less. the shore and Kχanouk, desiring to show his companion Religion. Like that of the majority of American peo- what he could do, took off his hat and placed it behind ples, the religion of the Koloches consists of a belief in him. Immediately a very thick fog formed on the sea, spirits, good and evil, which they seek to render propitious and at that moment Kχanouk separated himself from his either through their religious dances or their songs. To companion. Jéll’, being unable to distinguish anything, proceed in order, I will first examine the different kinds of began to cry out to Kχanouk: “Aχkani, aχkani” (friend, spirits the Koloches believe in, then I will occupy ourselves friend).40 But the latter did not answer. Turning this way with shamans and their practices. and that, Jéll’ did not know which way to go. Finally, with Spirits among the Koloches are known by the name ­trembling voice, he began to beg Kχanouk and to call for iéki.43 They are divided into three classes: 1. kiiéki or those his help. The latter, advancing, asked him why he was cry- who live above (from kina, above); 2. takiiéki or those ing. At that moment he put the hat back onto his head and who live somewhere in the north; 3. tekiiéki or those who immediately the fog disappeared. Then Kχanouk invited live in the waters of the sea. The kiiéki are supposed to Jéll’ to come home with him. live above on the clouds and are the spirits of the brave When they arrived at the island where he lived, who died in wars. These spirits appear in the magnificent Tekinoum, Kχanouk offered him fresh water. Jéll’ liked attire of combat to hunters in specific circumstances: The this water very much. He drank it with an insatiable thirst hunters think this is a sure sign of war. The second spirits and asked his host quite openly for more.41 After the re- or takiiéki are those of individuals who die a natural death freshment, Jéll’ began to tell his host his origin and the or who are not killed in wars. The place where the taki- whole story of the world. At first Kχanouk listened to iéki live is called ta-kankou (from ta kou, far); it is located him. But finally, as if Jéll’’s words bored him, he began somewhere to the north. According to the Koloches, the to yawn and fell into a deep sleep on the very place where road leading there is quite uneven. If the relatives of the the spring was. Then Jéll’, having taken the droppings of a deceased cry a little, the road is smooth and easy. If on dog, placed them very gently beside Kχanouk. That done, the other hand they cry a lot, the way is marshy and diffi- he cried to him: “Aχkani (friend), one would say that you’re cult. The takiiéki show themselves to hunters in the forms not well!” Kχanouk, waking up and seeing what was be- of ordinary terrestrial animals. As for the tekiiéki, they side him, took Jéll’’s trick as real and immediately got up always appear in the form of sea animals. But what the and went to wash himself in the sea. During this time Jéll’ spirits are who come in this form it is difficult to say. The hurried to open the spring and drank as much as he could. Koloches themselves do not seem to know. Some claim He took his favorite form, a raven, and flew away into the that they are the spirits of slaves; others that they are chimney where he became caught. Then Kχanouk, hav- the animals themselves. These spirits, belonging to one

39 Pinart has garbled this section, paraphrasing Veniaminov and adding his own interpretation. In Veniaminov (1984:395) Kanuk, or Wolf, responds to Raven’s question by saying that he had lived “since the time when from below the liver emerged.” In an accompanying footnote Veniaminov states that he was unable to find out what this meant. 40 As used here, Axkani may also be translated brother-in-law. This seems to be a more likely translation as the two men represent the two dif- ferent divisions and, thus, stand in opposition to one another. 41 In Veniaminov (1984:395) Raven is ashamed to ask for more. 42 Veniaminov 1984:396. Boas (1888b:125) offers a different version of how Raven became black. 43 Veniaminov 1984:397.

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 75 or another­ class, get irritated from time to time for one shaman is to render the spirits propitious and carry out reason or another, and certain dances are carried out to the functions of a doctor. appease them or a shaman is called.44 The son or grandson inheriting the paraphernalia of The idea of transmigration of souls is generally wide- his father or grandfather succeeds him in his practices spread among the Koloches.45 They believe that the indi- and in his power. The one who wants to become a sha- vidual never dies, that death is only a momentary dissolv- man must separate himself for a certain period from the ing. And a person is reborn in another form, sometimes in society of his fellow men and retire in solitude, either in the body of a man, sometimes in that of certain animals the heart of the forest or on a high mountain. He spends such as the bear or otter or wolf; of certain birds such as at least two weeks there and sometimes a month or even the raven or goshawk; and certain sea animals—primar- more, living only on a kind of root (Panax horridum),48 ily the whale. Veniaminov, in his great work,46 makes a avoiding by all means contact with and even the sight mistake in saying that the Koloches believe in the trans- of people. migration of the soul only into another man. This purely The time that an aspiring shaman spends in solitude human transmigration of souls is not exclusive but pre- depends on the promptness the spirits employ in showing dominant. Thus it happens quite often that if a woman, themselves to him. When the candidate begins to receive during the period of childbirth, sees one of her long-dead visits from the spirits, the most powerful of them sends relatives in a dream, she will say that it is the same rela- him an [sea] otter in the tongue of which, according to tive that has returned to settle itself in her and that it will them, is all the strength and knowledge of the shaman.49 again be returned to this world. It is common to hear This otter, the most indispensable part of the shamanic a sick or poor individual exclaim that he would be bet- paraphernalia, comes to meet the candidate. The latter ter off being dead, for then he could be reborn on this has no sooner seen it than he utters four times in dif- earth young and healthy. One of the factors that make the ferent tones the interjection “Oh!” Scarcely has the otter Koloches an indomitable race comes precisely from their heard these terrible sounds than it falls on its back and little fear of death. On the contrary, they often go to meet dies, letting its tongue hang out of its mouth. The sha- it, bolstered by the hope of soon returning to this world man moves toward it and cuts off its tongue, which he in a better position. places in a small bag where he already holds many tools of Shamans and their practices.47 Like almost all non-civ- his future profession. He hides the bag in a remote place ilized peoples of North America and Asia, the Koloches so that the profane cannot see, even by accident, a talis- have some kind of priest or shaman whom they con- man (kouchtallcouté, tongue of the otter) so powerful it sider an intermediary between the spirits and men. The would render him mad! The shaman also removes the ot- Koloche shamans had and still have boundless power; ter’s skin, which he keeps as a sign of his power. He then everyone bows before them and obeys their oracles. The buries the body of the animal with great care. Once this shamans have in their power a certain number of spirits, hunting for the otter is completed, he returns among his good or evil, which they have succeeded in attaching to fellow beings, where a great meeting is held that night themselves and which, at their pleasure, they are able to in order to try out the power of the new priest. Some send into the body of such and such individual. Being on shamans who are not privileged, it seems, to receive the good terms with the shamans is a token of success. On spirits or to kill the otter in solitude, go to the tomb of the other hand, being on bad terms with them unfailingly a famous shaman where they spend the night equipped attracts all kinds of misfortune. The primary office of the with a tooth or any part of a cadaver, which they hold in

44 See de Laguna 1972:816–823. 45 Veniaminov 1984:398–399. Also consult de Laguna (1972) and Mills and Slobodin (1994). 46 Veniaminov 1984:399. 47 Veniaminov 1984:400–407. See also de Laguna (1972:673–682, 701–710; 1987:84–100), Krause (1956:194–204), and Swanton (1908) for discussions of Northwest Coast shamanic practices. 48 Panax horridum is a taxonomic synonym for devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus). 49 For this reason, the otter is strictly considered by the Koloches as sacred and they never kill it. It is only after the arrival of the Russians that they began to hunt them.—ALP.

76 notes on the koloches their mouths with the intention of forcing the spirits to In the case where a shaman becomes sick, his rela- show themselves and to give them the sacred otter. tives fast for several days to procure his healing. When he Shamans today only wear hair of a disproportionate dies, the manner of burial is totally different from that of length as an exterior mark of their function.50 ordinary individuals. The Koloches never cremate a sha- As I said above, the Koloches attribute to their sha- man. They leave his body one night in the corner of the mans truly supernatural power and strength. I will cite barabara53 where he died. The second day they carry him only one reported example of a famous shaman of Sitka.51 to another corner, and the third and fourth days to the last Stories have it that one time this legendary character two corners of the barabara. They fast during this whole had his relatives and aides take him by boat into one of time to honor the deceased, and on the fifth day the fu- the bays of the Clear Islands,52 near Mount Edgecumbe. neral takes place. Having dressed him in his outfit, they When they got to this large bay, he had them take him to tie him to a plank pierced on the sides with small holes. the middle. Then he ordered them to grab him, bind him Of the two small rods of ivory that the shaman used in in a mat, and throw him to the bottom of the sea. After his ceremonies, one is placed in the cartilage of his nose, many difficulties his order was carried out. They tied him the other is used to hold up the hair and tie it on the nape up with ropes made of the enchanted skin of the otter of the neck. They then cover the head with a kind of mat. and, swinging him four times, threw him into the sea. The preparation of the cadaver being thus finished, they Thus bundled up the shaman went to the bottom. Then carry the body out and place it in the woods on a raised his relatives tied a bladder of the same enchanted otter­ of place or by the water. The Koloches believe that one of the the shaman to the other end of the rope. Not seeing him shaman’s most powerful spirits always watches by his side, reappear as they believed he would, they went to the shore and when they walk by the side of a shaman’s grave they to mourn for the one they believed was dead. The follow- throw tobacco or some other object as an offering and ask ing day they returned to visit the place where they had his spirit to be favorable. thrown the shaman but saw only the floating bladder, and The paraphernalia of shamanism are very numerous: saw the same sight on the third day. On the fourth day these are the skin, tongue, and bladder of the otter; the the bladder had disappeared; they were returning sorrow- drum; and masks carved from wood and painted with fully when all of a sudden they heard a noise resembling care, each different for each of the spirits that the shaman the sound of a shaman’s tambourine. Moving closer to has to conjure. the place from which the noise was coming, they came to The ceremonies of the shamans are of two types: one a cliff and there they saw their shaman lying with his head always takes place during the winter months, the seventh down, halfway up the hill, completely free in his move- and eighth day of the moon.54 The purpose of these cer- ments, and surrounded by a bunch of those little birds emonies is to protect the village. The shamans, having ap- that are only seen in Sitka. On his face blood flowed in pealed to their spirits, conjure them to be kind to their rel- rivulets from his mouth, but he was quite alive and sing- atives and to the entire village during the coming year, to ing songs. Filled with joy they ran up to him and, having ward off epidemics and send them elsewhere. The shaman descended the hill, carried him to the boat. Scarcely was is assisted in this ceremony by his relatives, who sing the he aboard than his good health returned completely and songs with him. On the day when the ceremony is to take he was taken home, so the legend ends. place, none of the relatives of the shaman can eat until

50 See de Laguna (1987) for a photograph of a Tlingit shaman with his hair uncut. 51 Veniaminov, v. III, p. 66 [Veniaminov 1984:403–404].—ALP. 52 Identified by Pinart as “Îles Propres” or Чистые острова, these islands were named “Batareynyy” by the Russians. The name was changed to “Clear Islets” by U.S. Navy Cmdr. R. W. Meade in 1869, and later became the Battery Islets (Orth 1967:110). 53 “Barabara” is generally used to refer to the traditional sod houses of the Aleut. The Russians may have used it for Tlingit houses in the Sitka area, but this usage has not continued. 54 Veniaminov (1984:405–407) states that there are two types of shamanic ceremonies. One is held “only during the winter months, and only on the 7th or 8th day of the moon.” This ceremony is held for “repairing the residence,” that is, for general happiness and good fortune. The second type of shamanic ceremony “occurs for various reasons [e.g., to discover sorcerers] and at various occasions.” This type of ceremony can “occur whenever there is need for them.”

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 77 the next morning. In addition, all make themselves vomit ses, and even fractures to witchcraft, the Koloches hasten before the ceremony in order to purify their bodies (they to the shaman so that he can point out to them the in- use a feather as an emetic). The ceremony begins with the dividual who has cast the spell. The messenger must stop setting of the sun and ends with the appearance of light at the door of the barabara and cry O! igoukχouat (oh! in the morning. When the sun begins to fall the Koloches for you). Hearing this cry the shaman, without having gather in the barabara, where the ceremony must take the envoy enter, tells him to repeat it. The envoy repeats place and which is made as clean as possible. When the louder O! igoukχouat. The shaman makes him repeat the favorable moment arrives, the songs—struck up by men invocation yet a third and a fourth time, casting alarmed and women—begin, accompanied by the tambourine that glances and listening as if he heard a distant voice. It is always hangs in front to the right of the entrance. The sha- only when the envoy has thus cried four times that the man, dressed in his outfit and wearing a mask, runs from shaman promises to visit the sick person in the evening. east to west (according to the direction of the sun) around The Koloches believe that by the sound of the envoy’s the fire, which has been lighted in the barabara. He con- voice their priest can recognize that of the one who has torts himself and makes all kinds of movements, his eyes bewitched the sick person. turned toward the entrance and directing the group with When evening has come the shaman, gathering to- the tambourine. His movements become more and more gether his singers and assorted paraphernalia, goes to violent and jerky. His eyes roll in their orbits and convulse. the barabara of the sick person, who has been cleansed Then suddenly he stops, looking fixedly at the tambourine for the occasion, and where the patient’s relatives and and emitting piercing cries. The songs then cease, all eyes friends are already gathered. The shaman enters dressed directed on the shaman, all ears set to listen to the in- in his attire and has the drum played and the singing coherent words that come out of his mouth—words that started. During this time he places himself near the sick are believed to inspire, for it is supposed that during the person and remains there all the time the song lasts. ceremony the shaman does not speak and does not act on When it ends he must know the name of the sorcerer, his own, rather there are spirits that act and speak through whom he reveals to one of the patient’s relatives. This his voice. Thus the incoherent words he utters are collected revelation ends the ceremony. and kept as well as the message itself and the orders of If the one who has been identified as the sorcerer does those spirits. not have rich relatives or is not protected by the power of The spirits of different classes are reputed to appear the toyon, then the unfortunate is often himself a victim, to the shaman in different forms but without any defi- having to suffer all kinds of vile treatment. nite order. The priest, in changing the mask, always puts It happens sometimes that the relatives of a sorcerer on the one of the spirit he is going to see and replaces kill him in order not to be in contact with a being so evil his mask in the order of the spirits’ appearance. The cer- and so dangerous. emony ends by distributing tobacco and different kinds These sorcerers, moreover, are regarded with great fear of dishes and meat. by the Koloches, who attribute to them all kinds of mar- In addition to these great ceremonies in the winter velous traits, such as making themselves invisible and the months, there are other, more frequent ceremonies oc- power to hide in water. casioned by various circumstances and particularly by What I have reported about shamans, with a few leg- witchcraft.55 There are individuals or sorcerers among the ends that I related a short while ago, makes up the back- Koloches who know how to bewitch their fellow humans ground of the religion, or rather of the superstition of the and who are called nakoutsati, from the word nakou or Koloches. This religious aspect is one of the most original medicine. Witchcraft, it seems, is a body of knowledge traits of that nation. I like to believe that for that society, entirely different from that of shamanism and does not where rightly great importance has always been attached resemble it in any way; sorcerers are the natural enemies to the knowledge of such manifestations, my modest com- of shamans. Attributing all skin diseases, cancers, paraly- munication will be heard with interest.

55 Veniaminov 1984:407–408; de Laguna 1987.

78 notes on the koloches acknowledgments Durlach, Theresa M. 1928 The Relationship Systems of the Tlingit, Haida We [Bland and Simonds] would like very much to thank and Tsimshian. Publications of the American Eth- Philip Adegboye Ojo and Jean Luc Robin, both formerly of nological Society 11. G. E. Stechert: New York. the Department of Romance Languages at the University Golder, Frank A. of Oregon, who aided by proofreading the translation. We 1907 Tlingit Myths. Journal of American Folklore also want to thank Nan Coppock for considerable edito- 20:290–295. rial assistance. 1917 Guide to Materials for American History in Rus- sian Archives. Carnegie Institution of Washing- ton: Washington, D.C. references Halpin, Marjorie, and Margaret Seguin 1990 Tsimshian Peoples: Southern Tsimshian, Coast Blackman, Margaret B. Tsimshian, Nishga, and Gitksan. In Handbook of 1990 Haida: Traditional Culture. In Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 7, Northwest Coast. North American Indians, vol. 7, Northwest Coast. Edited by Wayne Suttles, pp. 267–284. Smithson- Edited by Wayne Suttles, pp. 240–260. Smithso- ian Institution Press: Washington, D.C. nian Institution Press: Washington, D.C. Holmberg, Heinrich H. Boas, Franz 1985 Holmberg’s Ethnographic Sketches. Edited by 1888a Die Mythologie der nordwest-amerkianischen Marvin W. Falk. University of Alaska Press: Küstenvölker [The Mythology of the North- Fairbanks. west American Coastal Folk], Part I. Globus 53(8):121–127. Jenness, Diamond 1888b Einige Mythen der Tlingit [Some Tlingit Myths]. 1977 The Indians of Canada. University of Toronto Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde 23:159–172. Press: Toronto. Boyd, Robert T. Krause, Aurel 1990 Demographic History, 1774–1874. In Handbook 1956 The Tlingit Indians. Translated by Erna Gunther. of North American Indians, vol. 7, Northwest Coast. University of Washington Press: Seattle. Edited by Wayne Suttles, pp. 135–148. Smithso- Litke, Fedor P. nian Institution Press: Washington, D.C. 1987 A Voyage around the World, 1826–1829: vol. 1, To Dall, William H. Russian America and Siberia. Translated by Renée 1877 Tribes of the Extreme Northwest. In Contribu- Marshall, edited by Richard A. Pierce. Limestone tions to North American Ethnology, vol. 1, Edited Press: Kingston, Ontario. by John W. Powell, pp. 1–156. U.S. ­Geological McCaffrey, Margot Krause (ed.) and Geographical Survey of the Rocky Moun- 1993 To the Chukchi Peninsula and to the Tlingit In- tain Region: Washington, D.C. dians, 1881–1882: Journals and Letters by Aurel Dauenhauer, Nora Marks, and Richard Dauenhauer (eds.) and Arthur Krause. University of Alaska Press: 1990 Haa tuwunááagu yíís, for Healing Our Spirit: Tlin- Fairbanks. git Oratory. University of Washington Press: Se- Mills, Antonia and Richard Slobodin (eds.) attle and Sealaska Heritage Foundation: Juneau. 1994 Amerindian Rebirth: Reincarnation Belief among de Laguna, Frederica North American Indians and Inuit. University of 1972 Under Mount Saint Elias: the History and Culture Toronto Press: Toronto. of the Yakutat Tlingit. Smithsonian Contribu- Mooney, James tions to Anthropology 7(1–3). Smithsonian Insti- 1928 The Aboriginal Population of America North of tution Press: Washington, D.C. Mexico. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 1987 Atna and Tlingit Shamanism: Witchcraft on the 80(7). Washington, D.C. North­west Coast. Arctic Anthropology 24(1):84–100. Orth, Donald J. 1990 Tlingit. In Handbook of North American Indians, 1967 Dictionary of Alaska Place Names. Geological Sur- vol. 7, Northwest Coast. Edited by Wayne Suttles, vey Professional paper 567. Government Printing pp. 203–228. Smithsonian Institution Press: Office: Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C.

Alaska Journal of Anthropology vol. 9, no. 1 (2011) 79 Parmenter, Ross d’ethnographie américaines, Tome 3. E. Leroux: 1966 Explorer, Linguist and Ethnologist: A Descriptive Paris and A. L. Bancroft: San Francisco. Bibliography of the Published Works of Alphonse Swanton, John R. Louis Pinart, with Notes on His Life. Southwest 1908 Haida Texts–Masset Dialect. The Jesup North Museum: Los Angeles. Pacific Expedition 10(2–3). Memoir of the Ameri- Petitot, Émile can Museum of Natural History 14(1):273–812. 1876a Dictionnaire de la langue Dènè-Dindjié, dialectes 1909 Tlingit Myths and Texts. Bulletin of the Bureau of montagnais ou chippewayan, peaux de lièvre et American Ethnology 39. Smithsonian Institution loucheux enermant en outre un grand nombre de Press: Washington, D.C. termes propres à sept autres dialectes de la même Veniaminov, Ivan langue: précéde d’une monographie des Dènè-Dind- 1984 Notes on the Islands of the Unalashka District. jié, d’une grammaire et de tableaux synoptiques Translated by Lydia T. Black and Richard H. des conjugaisons. Bibliothéque de linguistique et Geoghegan. Limestone Press: Kingston, Ontario. d’ethnographie américanines, Tome 2. E. Leroux: (Originally published in 1840). Paris; and A. L. Bancroft: San Francisco. Wagner, Henry R. 1876b Vocabulaire Francais-Esquimau. Dialecte des Tchi- 1962 Alphonse Pinart: A Biographical Note. Alphonse glit des bouches du Mackenzie and de l’Anderson, Pinart: Journey to Arizona in 1876. Zamorano precede d’une monographie de cette tribe et de notes Club: Los Angeles. grammaticales. Bibliothéque de linguistique et

80 notes on the koloches